Fixed
by truemizzie
Summary: What happened when Harry and the other Griffindor boys went back to their dorm after the Final Battle.  SPOILERS FOR DH.


Fixed

Five Griffindor boys walked up the stairs towards the dorm they were now allowed to share once more. The door was shut, and the first boy, Dean Thomas, pulled it open slowly, as if worried that something might jump out at him. Realizing that they were safe, he finished opening the door, and entered the immediately lit room. The room was tidy, and almost too clean to seem lived in at all. It was a room that had been empty for a very long time. Entering after Dean were Seamus Finnegan, Neville Longbottom, Ronald Weasley and, finally, Harry Potter. The boys ran to their beds, embracing their warmth and softness. They sat up, facing each other. Suddenly, things became very silent, and somewhat awkward.

"So…" It was Seamus who broke the silence, the scar on his lip pulsing as he spoke. "It feels weird to just be able to sit here…I keep thinking I'll have to worry about something…but I guess not."

"You're telling me," Harry said, trying to make a joke. The other boys smiled, but did not look completely amused. Neville shrugged.

"I guess I still can't believe that he's really gone for good, you know?" he said.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Everything's sort of fixed now."

"Well, not completely," Ron cut in. "Dad says there's still a ton of stuff to sort out at the Ministry."

"Yeah, but they'll be able to do that…it'll just take time, is all."

"I suppose so," Ron agreed. He glanced around the room, trying to read his friends' faces. There was something that was oddly settling about the whole situation, which made things become unsettling. Something needed to go wrong, but it didn't feel like it was going to. "I can't believe that this room was empty for so much of the year…no Seventh Year Griffindor fellows to straighten things out in the Common Room."

"Not much we could have done, unfortunately," Neville said, shrugging. He looked over at Dean, who had been silent throughout the conversation. Noticing Neville, Dean looked down into his own lap and linked his fingers together. He suddenly grimaced.

"Is it wrong to sort of…_not_ want to be here?"

"What do you mean?" Seamus asked him.

"Nothing…I guess...no. Nothing." The others boys quieted, not knowing how to respond. "Well…yeah. Something. This place is a war zone now. It's not Hogwarts anymore. It's just…people died here. I haven't even been here, but I was here tonight…and it was awful."

His statement seemed to stop time, making the others realize what he was saying. They sat together, their legs hanging over the sides of their beds, for a minute or so. Finally, Harry spoke, saying what they were all waiting to hear.

"Nobody died _here._ This is still just the dorm."

"And it's way better than the Room of Requirement," Seamus decided, making the others chuckle lightly. All but Neville, who simply allowed the sides of his mouth to curl upwards into a small smile, then they receded.

"What's on your mind?" Ron asked him.

"Your mum."

This caused a lot of laughter, coming from everybody except Neville once again. Still, he slowly began to laugh himself, and eventually became as delighted at the joke as the rest. He quieted down the soonest, however, and spoke.

"I'm serious, though." There was more laughter. "Not like that! I mean…she…" Neville shrugged, replacing the awkwardness in the room. "I sort of thought that…that it would be me. You know, to take out…her…" Silence.

"With all due respect, mate," Ron finally said, "I'm not sure you could've done, really. At least…not kill her." Neville looked up.

"I'm not sure…I've been wanting to…for a while…"

"Neville, that's not you." It was Harry who said this. "You could have cursed her with something, sure, but not the Unforgivables. It's just not in you."

Suddenly, Neville seemed to become angry. It was the first time Harry had ever seen him that way. He stood up and turned around, kicking his foot into the side of his bed. "I would have…I know I would have!" He kicked harder this time, and a few more times, surprising the other boys so much that a couple of them even jumped a bit. Harry straightened up, but did not stand.

"But would you have wanted to?" Neville then turned to face Harry.

"Of course not," he heaved, his face red. Harry eyed Neville carefully. He was so angry that Harry was almost afraid of what he might do. "But I would have."

"No…"

"I would have! I would have killed her! No…" Neville rethought his statement. "I would have hurt her first." There was a small sound as Dean gasped. "That would have been better…"

"Neville, shut it," Ron told him, "You're acting weird."

"But aren't you as mad as I am?" Neville asked Ron. His face had become a strange mixture between anger and sadness, tears streaming down his red cheeks. "They killed your brother-"

"Neville, _shut it!"_

Harry then stood, feeling suddenly protective of Ron, who had shrunk down into his lap. Harry stayed still, but glared at Neville, feeling suddenly mad at him.

"Don't say all of this stuff…now you're just being stupid!" Neville opened his mouth to say something. "You're not like this, Neville! And you don't need to be…it's over now. The war is over now! She's gone-"

"She's still alive-"

"But she's _gone._ She's not getting out this time. She'll waste away now. It's over."

Neville glared for a moment, and then seem to come to a moment of realization. His eyes widened in fear - a fear of himself - and he fell down onto his bed. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ron convulse once into his hands, trying desperately not to cry. None of the boys approached him…none even seemed to want to look at him, until Harry finally stepped over to his friend. He sat next to Ron, only their shoulders touching.

"Harry's right, you know." Dean had decided to speak. He looked in Neville's direction, but his eyes were plastered in a spot just behind Neville's head. "While I was in hiding, I was caught by Snatchers…twice, actually. The second ones weren't as bad, Dobby got us out before they could really do anything to us. But the first ones worked a lot faster." Dean paused, taking a few breaths. Seamus stared at him, his eyes fraught with worry at what he was going to say. "They did a lot of stuff to us. Cruciatus and that. And then…one day…I saw somebody that I _definitely_ didn't want to see there. They found my half-sister." Dean's dark cheeks began to darken with a reddish shade that made them seem almost purple. "They found out that we were…related…and they just…" He closed his eyes tight. "First they tortured her…just a bit with Crucio, to _'show her what magic was like.'_ What it could do. And then…they just killed her. Just like that. And she was gone."

Seamus seemed to not know what to do, so he remained on his own bed. Ron finally began to sob into his hands. Harry remained still beside his friend. Dean's defiantly dry eyes found Neville's, which were wide open with amazement.

"I guess…what I'm trying to say is…you're not like that, Neville. You don't…enjoy it, like they do. Like they did. You couldn't hurt somebody like that."

"No…" Neville said. "I couldn't." Dean nodded, wiping his now wetting eyes. Seamus moved, as if to approach him.

"No, I'm alright…" Dean said. Seamus sighed, continuing, but Dean held up a hand. "No. Please. I'm not ready to handle it yet. Maybe soon…but not right now." Seamus nodded and settled back down on his bed as Dean looked up, his face now only a bit red. Ron was still crying, and Harry had finally slung an arm around him, which seemed to calm him down until he straightened up, wiping his face. Neville didn't seem to know what to say, but relaxed when Ron spoke:

"It just sort of…sunk in, you know?"

"I'm sorry-" Neville began.

"Don't be. You're right. I'm pissed. But you're wrong, too. You're not _evil_ like they are. You're just pissed. We all are, I think."

Neville nodded apologetically, and the others silently forgave him with their small smiles. Sensing the need to add some good humour to the proceedings, Seamus cut in:

"So, who else is hungry?"

"Starving!" Harry perked up, remembering what he had hoped for a short while earlier after leaving the Headmaster's Office. "Dob-" Harry instantly stopped, and closed his eyes for a moment. "Kreacher," he said instead, and the House Elf appeared before him. Harry felt a twinge of delight when he saw that Kreacher was wearing a sock on his left foot, a sign that Hermione had been to the kitchens and that Kreacher had chosen to remain at Hogwarts, just as Dobby had. He was a Free Elf, too.

"What does Master Harry want?"

"Maybe just some sandwiches?"

"They'll be here in just a minute!" Kreacher snapped his fingers and disappeared. Harry sighed, remembering Dobby. The moment of happiness had ended due to this, and Harry felt solely responsible for the question Seamus asked next.

"Who died tonight, anyways?"

"Do you really want to talk about this?" Dean asked him.

"No…" Seamus admitted. "But I think we should know…maybe think about them a bit. Did you see anybody die?"

"Too many people," Neville told him.

"Who?" Seamus asked as Dean pulled a pencil from his pocket.

"Does anybody have something to write on?" he asked. "We should write these down. So we remember for tomorrow." Ron stood for a moment and pulled the calendar off of the wall. He ripped a page off of it.

"You could just use this."

"Thanks." He eyed Neville, beckoning him to start. Neville nodded and began.

"Susan, Colin-"

"Wait!" Seamus stopped him. "I think we should write down how they died, too."

"Okay…" Neville nodded. "Susan died when we were tossing the Mandrakes. She threw one badly, and it knocked her earmuffs off instead of going over the wall. She could hear the Mandrake. Killed her instantly."

Dean wrote, and nodded at Neville to continue.

"Colin died…Yaxley was using the Cruciatus Curse on him. He was a small sixteen year-old. Too small for that. It killed him." Neville didn't continue.

"Is that it?"

"All I saw."

"'Kay. Ron?"

"I only really saw Fred…the walls…fell in on him. Somebody's curse made the walls fall in. He must have been hit in the head or something." Ron blinked, holding back tears.

"Harry?"

"Lupin and Tonks-Remus and Nymphadora Lupin-are dead. I don't know how, though," he realized, looking to Ron for an answer.

"Dad said that Dolohov killed Lupin and," Ron glanced at Neville, "Bellatrix killed Tonks - Nymphadora. Just Killing Curses."

Harry immediately thought of their son, Teddy. What would happen to him? Who would take him in? Dean broke his train of thought.

"Any more?"

"Oh…yeah…Crabbe. Burned himself." He shuddered as Dean began to write.

"What was his first name?"

"Vincent," Ron filled in for Harry, a glaring look of hatred on his face for Crabbe.

"Alright…is that it?"

"For me, yeah," Harry admitted.

"Okay…Seamus?" It was at this moment that Seamus became extremely uncomfortable looking. His shoulders slunk over, making him seem very small, but he tried to keep his head facing forward.

"I just saw two, really. I wasn't paying much attention afterwards," he sighed. "Justin got killed. Ernie was trying to protect him from one of the Death Eaters, but they knew he was muggleborn. Ernie got hurt pretty bad, but he's okay."

"Which one killed Justin?"

"I didn't know their name," Seamus admitted. There was silence, until Dean prodded him to keep talking.

"Come on…who was the next one?" The look of terror on his face was difficult to read. It was as if he almost knew what was coming next.

"After Justin died, Luna and I were trying to get Ernie into the Great Hall…we found…" Seamus paused, and then looked at Dean. "We found Lavender there, mate." The whole room knew that Dean was very close friends with Lavender Brown, and that after Ginny and Ron, the two had come very close to dating, but never made it due to Dean going into hiding for the year.

Upon hearing the news, Dean convulsed violently, his head falling into his lap and his hands covering his head. He dropped the pen and the list as he began to shake. Seamus leaned over carefully and picked up the items, writing down the information he had just given. Dean could be heard swearing into his knees before he rested his elbows and held his head up.

"Do you know…how?" He asked. Seamus shook his head.

"No…she was all…there was blood everywhere…" these words did not help. Harry noticed Dean gagging. He spoke.

"It was Greyback." Dean looked at him. "Trelawney got rid of him…I thought she was helping Lavender…I had to look for the snake…" Harry felt a sudden twinge of guilt.

"She couldn't have helped her," Seamus told him. "I don't think anything could have."

Dean looked from Harry to Seamus, his eyes wet but with no tears falling from them. He still wasn't ready to cry. Harry understood what he felt…it was futile to cry, and too much to handle at the moment. For now they would just take their safety for granted, and not allow the terror and sadness to take over them. No one spoke for a few minutes after that, until Kreacher reappeared with the food. It was a tray full of sandwiches, and some juices to drink. The boys began to eat, which calmed them down considerably. Finally, Dean spoke:

"I saw Slughorn die. He was guarding Padma." He shrugged. "A few Aurors, too, but I don't know their names." Seamus wrote this down.

"So…should I just read them out?" he asked.

"Sure," Harry told him, and sat up to listen. Seamus began:

"The dead are Susan Bones, killed accidentally by a Mandrake; Colin Creevey, killed by Yaxley with the Cruciatus Curse; Fred Weasley, when a curse caused the walls to fall in; Remus Lupin, killed by Dolohov and his wife, Nymphadora Lupin, killed by Bellatrix Lestrange; Vincent Crabbe, burned to death; Justin Finch-Fletchley, killed by a Death Eater using the Killing Curse; Lavender Brown, killed by Fenrir Greyback; Horace Slughorn and other unnamed Aurors, killed by Death Eaters." He looked around at the blank faces. They did not know what to do. "Maybe we should just be quiet for a minute," he suggested, and they did so.

The silence took over the room instantly, and remained for some time. They did not cry. Those that needed to cry already had for the night. This time was to be used only to think of the dead, and the reasons that they died. It was a way to quietly honour their gigantic sacrifices, to remember what they had fought for. It was a time to realize that they had won the battle, and that things would be better now. There would be no more real war, other than the few things that needed to be fixed before everything could be entirely back to normal. Deciding that they had all taken long enough to think about these things, the boys shuffled uncomfortably, and waited for the first person to speak.

"Y'know, technically it's morning," Ron told them. He was right. The large clock on the wall on the room was pointing directly to the 6. However, even though it was now daytime, the sky outside remained quite dark. Harry looked out the window, somewhat confused by this.

"The sun won't come out for a while, I think," Neville told him. "There's something about the school. The weather was bad for most of the year. It reflects what people are feeling." Harry frowned, knowing that the sky was black for the mourners. He looked at Neville, and was surprised to see that he was smiling. "But it'll come out some time. When people start to realize…we should be celebrating. It took a lot…too much…but we still beat him. It's like you said, Harry," Neville said as he looked Harry in the eye. "Everything's fixed now. Or, at least, it will be…soon."

"What are we going to do now that it is, d'you reckon?" Ron asked.

"Well," Harry started with a laugh, "I have a feeling you might be planning a wedding soon." Ron's eyes widened, and then shrunk with his own jest.

"Like you'll be a stranger to the Bridezillas!"

"Woah, woah…what did we miss?" Dean begged. Harry explained:

"Ron and Hermione…well, they're not exactly a secret anymore."

"Like they ever were!" Seamus interjected.

"What're you talking about?" Ron asked, an eyebrow rising.

"You were only ever a secret to each other, mate. We all knew," Dean told him.

"Yeah, well now Harry can finally go out with my sister again. Better than her moping any more than she already has been."

"So, when are the weddings?" Neville asked, laughing heartily.

"NOT YET!" Harry yelled, but he had a rather large smile on his face.

"So, which of us is going to get to be a Godfather?" Seamus chuckled.

"None of you! We're seventeen, sickos!" Ron complained.

"Besides, 'Godfather' is never a very lucky title around our lot, now is it?" Harry admitted.

"Which means that you'll have kids, but no Godfathers," Dean decided. Ron threw a pillow at him from across the room. There was a long period full of laughter and jokes, until Neville said what they had all been waiting for.

"Sleep."

There was a silent agreement among the boys as they each made their way back to their own beds. It only took a few minutes for them all to be settled under their covers and ready to fall asleep. The last voice to be heard before they were out was Harry's:

"Good morning."


End file.
